Solid state image pickup device and manufacturing method therefor

ABSTRACT

A MOS-type solid-state image pickup device is provided on a semiconductor substrate and includes a photoelectric conversion unit having a first semiconductor region, a second semiconductor region, and a third semiconductor region. A transfer gate electrode is disposed on an insulation film and transfers a carrier from the second semiconductor region to a fourth semiconductor region, and an amplifying MOS transistor has a gate electrode connected to the fourth semiconductor region. In addition, a fifth semiconductor region is continuously disposed to the second semiconductor region, under the gate electrode. An entire surface of the third semiconductor region is covered with the insulation film, and a side portion of the third semiconductor region that is laterally opposite to the transfer gate is in contact with the first semiconductor region.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a solid state image pickup device and amethod for manufacturing the same.

2. Related Background Art

As the representative structures of the solid state image pickup device,there are known a CCD sensor consisting of photodiodes and CCD shiftregisters, and a CMOS sensor such as APS (active pixel sensor)consisting of photodiodes and MOS transistors.

The APS is provided, in each pixel, with a photodiode, an MOS switch, anamplifier circuit for amplifying the signal from the photodiode etc.,and has various advantages of enabling XY addressing and single-chipintegration of the sensor and the signal processing circuit. On theother hand, because of a larger number of elements in each pixel, theAPS is associated with a smaller pixel aperture rate and difficulty inreducing the chip size which determines the dimension of the opticalsystem, and, for these reasons, the majority of the commerciallyavailable solid state image pickup devices is represented by the CCD.

However the CMOS sensor is recently attracting attention, because of theprogress in the technology for size reduction of the MOS transistors andthe increasing demand for the single-chip integration of the sensor andthe signal processing circuit and for the lower electric powerconsumption.

FIG. 1 is an equivalent circuit diagram of a pixel region of theconventional APS and a solid state image pickup device utilizing thesame, as reported by Eric R. Fossum et al. at the 1995 IEEE Work Shop.In the following there will be briefly explained the configuration ofthe prior technology.

The photoelectric conversion unit is composed of a buried photodiode ofthe type employed in the CCD. The buried photodiode with a surfaciallyhighly doped p-layer can suppress the dark current generated at the SiO₂surface, and there can also be formed a junction capacitance between then-layer in the accumulation unit and the surfacial p-layer, therebyincreasing the saturation charge amount of the photodiode.

A photo-induced signal charge Q_(sig) accumulated in a photoelectricconversion unit (photodiode) PPD is transferred, through a transfer unitTX consisting of a MOS transistor, to a floating diffusion region FD.

The signal charge Q_(sig) is converted by the capacitance C_(FD) of thefloating diffusion region into a voltage Q_(sig)/C_(FD), which is readthrough a source follower circuit.

In such prior technology, however, since the n-layer constituting thecharge accumulation region is separated from the surface, it isnecessary, in order to read the charge from such charge accumulationregion to the floating diffusion region, to apply a voltage higher thanin the ordinary MOS transistor to the control electrode of the MOStransistor employed in the transfer unit (transferring MOS transistor).

FIG. 5 shows the potentials of the channel region in a conventional MOStransistor and the transferring MOS transistor. In FIG. 5, the lightenters from the left-hand side, and, on the right-hand side there areformed in succession a transparent insulation layer such as of SiO₂ orSiN, a highly doped p-layer and an p-layer constituting the photodiode.The curve show changes in the potential level under the voltageapplication. In FIG. 5, there are shown an oxide layer 301, Fermi level302 of the n-layer of the photodiode, Fermi level 303 of a bypassregion, a potential 304 under the application of a threshold voltage ofthe present invention, and a potential 305 under the application of thethreshold voltage of the prior technology.

As indicated by a broken line in FIG. 5, the potential has to be variedlarger since the n-layer is separated from the surface.

The threshold voltage V_(th) of the conventional MOS transistor is givenby the following equation:

$V_{th} = {\frac{\sqrt{\left( {{2\varphi_{F}} + V_{s}} \right)*2ɛ_{Si}*{qN}_{sub}}}{C_{ox}} + {2\varphi_{F}} + V_{s} + V_{FB}}$

wherein:

φ: Fermi potential

V_(s): substrate bias

∈_(Si): dielectric constant of Si

q: charge amount of electron

N_(sub): substrate impurity concentration

V_(FB): flat band voltage

C_(ox): parasite capacitance of floating diffusion region.

On the other hand, the threshold voltage V_(th) of the transfer MOStransistor for transfer from the buried photodiode is given by thefollowing equation, wherein X_(j) is the junction depth of the surfacialp-layer of the photodiode:

$V_{th} = {{\frac{\sqrt{\left( {{2\varphi_{F}} + V_{S}} \right)*2ɛ_{Si}*{qN}_{sub}}}{C_{ox}}*A} + {\left( {{2\varphi_{F}} + V_{s}} \right)*A^{2}} + V_{FB}}$$A = {1 + \frac{X_{j}}{\sqrt{\frac{\left( {{2\varphi_{F}} + V_{s}} \right)*2ɛ_{Si}}{{qN}_{sub}}}}}$

Since the difference of the two becomes larger as the impurityconcentration in the substrate becomes higher, the charge readingbecomes more difficult with the increase in the impurity concentrationof the substrate in case of a finer geometry of the elements.

More specifically, under the conditions of an oxide layer thickness of15 nm and an impurity concentration of 8×10¹⁶ cm⁻³ in the p-type well,the threshold voltage of the ordinary MOS transistor is about 0.7 Vwhile that of the buried source becomes as high as 5.0 V. In the priorart, it becomes impossible to read almost all the change from thephotodiode with the increase in the threshold voltage. As a result, thecharge remains in the photodiode, thus forming a retentive image or anoise, thus significantly deteriorating the image quality.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to provide a solid state imagepickup device capable of efficiently transferring the charge accumulatedin the photoelectric conversion element, and a manufacturing methodtherefor.

In order to attain the above-mentioned object, according to an aspect ofthe present invention, there is provided a solid state image pickupdevice comprising a photoelectric conversion unit including a firstregion of a first conductive type formed on a semiconductor substratehaving a main surface, a second region of a second conductive typeformed in the first region, and a third region of the first conductivetype formed between the second region and the main surface; a fourthregion of the second conductive type formed in the first region; and acharge transfer unit including the first region, an insulation layer onthe first region and a control electrode on the insulating layer, fortransferring a signal charge accumulated in the photoelectric conversionunit to the fourth region; wherein the photoelectric conversion unit andthe charge transfer unit are connected through a fifth region of thesecond conductive type.

Also according to the present invention, there is provided a method forforming a solid state image pickup device including at least (1) aphotoelectric conversion unit including a first region of a firstconductive type formed on a semiconductor substrate having a mainsurface, a second region of a second conductive type formed in the firstregion, and a third region of the first conductive type formed betweenthe second region and the main surface, (2) a fourth region of thesecond conductive type formed in the first region, (3) a charge transferunit including the first region, an insulation layer on the first regionand a control electrode on the insulation layer, for transferring thesignal charge accumulated in the photoelectric conversion unit to thefourth region, wherein the method comprising an ion implantation step ofdoping an impurity for forming the second conductive type into thesecond region, utilizing the control electrode of the charge transferunit as a mask.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda method for forming a solid state image pickup device comprising aphotoelectric conversion unit including a first region of a firstconductive type formed on a semiconductor substrate having a mainsurface, a second region of a second conductive type formed in the firstregion, and a third region of the first conductive type formed betweenthe second region and the main surface; a fourth region of the secondconductive type formed in the first region; and a charge transfer unitincluding the first region, an insulation layer on the first region anda control electrode on the insulation layer, for transferring the signalcharge accumulated in the photoelectric conversion unit to the fourthregion, wherein a fifth region of the second conductive type is formedbetween the photoelectric conversion unit and the charge transfer unit.

Other objects of the present invention, and the features thereof, willbecome fully apparent from the following description, which is to betaken in conjunction with the attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a prior art;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are cross-sectional views of a CCD provided with abypass region;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 is a planar potential chart of the embodiment of the presentinvention shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional potential chart of the embodiment of thepresent invention shown in FIG. 3;

FIGS. 6A, 6B, 6C and 6D are cross-sectional views showing themanufacturing process of an embodiment 2 of the present invention;

FIGS. 7A, 7B, 7C and 7D are cross-sectional views showing themanufacturing process of an embodiment 3, 4, 5 or 7 of the presentinvention;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing the manufacturing process of anembodiment 4, 5 or 7 of the present invention;

FIGS. 9A, 9B, 9C and 9D are cross-sectional views showing themanufacturing process of an embodiment 6 of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing the manufacturing process ofan embodiment 7 of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is an equivalent circuit diagram of a pixel in the presentinvention; and

FIG. 12 is an equivalent circuit diagram of an region sensor of thepresent invention, including a read-out circuit.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the following there will be explained a first embodiment of thepresent invention. Referring to the configuration shown in FIG. 3, thereis provided, between the photodiode and the transfer MOS transistor, anregion of a conductive type same as that of the charge accumulationlayer. For example, in case of a photodiode consisting of a chargeaccumulation region formed in a p-well and a surfacially highly dopedp-layer formed on the surface of the charge accumulation region, thereis provided an n-doped region. Such the region is hereinafter called abypass region. As a result of providing the bypass region, the electronsin the charge accumulation region move to the floating diffusion regionthrough the bypass region of the low potential and the surface of thetransfer MOS transistor, whereby the threshold voltage thereof can bemade lower than in the prior art.

However, the concept of such bypass region is already adopted in theimage pickup device employing the CCD shift register, and aconfiguration shown in FIG. 2B was reported in the TelevisionAssociation Technical Report Vol. 13, No. 11 (1989). The bypass regionconsisting of a surfacially highly doped p-layer 505 is prepared forexample by forming a resist layer 507 as shown in FIG. 2A. In FIGS. 2Aand 2B, there are shown an n-type substrate 501, a p-well 502, a CCDvertical transfer electrode 503, an n-layer 504 constituting thephotodiode, and a CCD vertical register 506.

The bypass region is required to meet the following conditions:

(1) A certain impurity concentration and a certain width are requiredfor the function as the bypass region; and

(2) The bypass region has to be depleted for all the reading conditions,in order to achieve depleted transfer.

Thus the conditions (1) and (2) respectively determine the lower limitand the upper limit of the impurity concentration and the width of thebypass region. If the impurity concentration of the substrate increaseas a result of pixel size reduction, the margin for the impurityconcentration and the width of the bypass region is inevitably reduced.

Also in case of employing the CCD shift register, there result followinglimitations:

(1) the n-channel region of the vertical CCD shift register,corresponding to the drain region of the transfer MOS transistor, has tohave a low impurity concentration, and

(2) the different between the gate voltage of the transfer MOStransistor and the voltage of the drain region thereof (channel regionof the vertical CCD shift register) is almost as small as the build-inpotential resulting from the difference in the impurity concentration.

Consequently, in the image pickup device employing the CCD shiftregister, the lines of electric force from the drain region of thetransfer MOS transistor do not have any influence on the photodiode.

On the other hand, the configuration of the present embodiment has thefollowing features:

(1) the drain region of the transfer MOS transistor comprising a highlydoped n-region, constituting the floating diffusion region; and

(2) the drain voltage being controllable independently from the gatevoltage.

As a result, in the present embodiment, the lines of electric force fromthe drain region can be made to influence the photodiode, therebyassisting the extraction of electrons from the charge accumulationlayer.

Therefore, the aforementioned margin of the impurity concentration andthe width of the bypass region can be made wider in comparison with thatin the prior art. The potential state of the present embodiment is shownin FIG. 4.

In FIG. 3, the photoelectric conversion element (photodiode) is obtainedby forming a p-well 102 on an n-type substrate 101, then forming ann-layer 104 in the p-well 102, and forming a p-layer 105 with a highlydoped surface on the n-layer 104. A floating diffusion region FD 107 isobtained by forming an n-layer 107 in the p-well 102. A gate region 103of the transfer MOS transistor is formed above the region between thephotodiode and the floating diffusion region 107 across an insulationlayer, and, between the photodiode and the floating diffusion region FD107 there is formed a bypass region continued from the n-layer of thephotodiode.

A floating diffusion region FD 107 is connected to the gate of anamplifying MOS transistor of an output circuit, while the source of theamplifying MOS transistor is connected to the drain of a line selectingswitch MOS transistor 111, of which source is connected to a currentsource 1112 constituting the load of the amplifying MOS transistor,whereby a source follower amplifying circuit is constituted.

The floating diffusion region FD 107 is also connected to the source ofa resetting MOS transistor for setting the floating diffusion region FD,and the drain of the resetting MOS transistor is connected to aresetting power source 109.

In the following there will be explained the features of the presentinvention, together with the explanation of the charge readingoperation. In response to the incident light, the electrons generated byphotoelectric conversion are accumulated in the p-layer of thephotodiode. In this state, the transfer MOS transistor is in theturned-off state. After the lapse of a predetermined accumulation time,a positive voltage is applied to the control electrode (gate region) ofthe transfer MOS transistor, thereby turning on the same andtransferring the charge accumulated in the n-layer of the photodiode tothe floating diffusion region. Before the transfer MOS transistor isturned on, the floating diffusion region is reset to a predeterminedpotential. When the accumulated charge, consisting of electrons, istransferred to the floating diffusion region, the potential is loweredby Q_(sig)/C_(FD) from the reset potential, wherein Q_(sig) is thetransferred charge and C_(FD) is the floating diffusion capacitance. Ifthe charge accumulation layer of the photodiode is p-type, the voltageis elevated because the transferred charge consists of positive holes.

In such APS, it is possible to eliminate a major part of the reset noiseof the floating diffusion region 107 by retaining the output signalV_(r1) immediately after the resetting of the floating diffusion region107 and calculating a difference (V_(sig1)−V_(r1)) wherein V_(sig1) isthe output signal in which Q_(sig)/C_(FD) is overlapped with the resetsignal. In particular, a higher noise elimination rate can be attainedif the photodiode and the transfer MOS transistor satisfy the followingcondition. Stated differently, it is important that the signal chargeaccumulated in the n-layer of the photodiode is read out with a higherproportion.

More specifically, if the transfer MOS transistor is in a sufficientlyturned-on state, the n-layer of the photodiode is given an inverse biasVFD_(sig1) with respect to the ground potential of the p-well and thesurfacially highly doped p-layer, wherein VFD_(sig1) is the voltage ofthe floating diffusion region lowered by Q_(sig)/C_(FD) from the resetvoltage after the signal reading. In this state, a depletion layerextends from the p-well and the surfacially highly doped p-layer to then-layer to deplete the entire n-layer of the photodiode, whereby thesignal charge can be read to the floating diffusion region, almostwithout the remaining signal charge in the photodiode.

In the present embodiment, the photodiode is reset simultaneously withreading of the signal charge to the floating diffusion region. If noelectrons remain in the n-layer of the photodiode after the signalreading, namely under the application of the inverse bias VFD_(sig1) tothe n-layer, the reset noise can be completely eliminated by calculatingthe difference between the output signal V_(r1) immediately after theresetting and the output signal V_(sig1) consisting of the reset signalsuperposed with Q_(sig)/C_(FD), and there can thus be obtained an outputV_(sig)−V_(r1)=Q_(sig)/C_(FD)×A wherein A is the gain of the outputcircuit provided for each pixel.

To this output signal, there is added a noise ΔV_(n1) of the outputcircuit present for each pixel, and the final output from the integratedcircuit formed as the region sensor further includes a noise ΔV_(n2) ofthe read-out system after the output circuit for each pixel.

In order to achieve the signal read-out as explained above, it isnecessary to satisfy a relation V_(dep)<V_(sig1) by applying an inversebias to the n-layer of the photodiode, wherein V_(dep) means a voltageat which the entire n-layers starts to be depleted. The depletionvoltage of the photodiode generally means an inverse bias voltagerealizing a condition:

Number of accumulated charges in the accumulation unit<net number ofimpurities.

Ideally, zero electrons remain in the n-layer of the photodiode afterthe signal read-out, but the actual level of signal read-out in factdepends on the designing of the system. Practically, the remainingsignal level should be sufficiently smaller than the aforementionednoises ΔV_(n1), ΔV_(n2).

In order to realize the above-described operations, it is necessary tosufficiently turn on the transfer MOS transistor, and, for this purpose,the present invention utilizes the bypass region 106 between the buriedphotodiode and the transfer MOS transistor. The bypass region need notnecessarily be in contact with the semiconductor surface, as shown inFIG. 4. Because, the bypass region is provided between the n-layer ofthe photodiode and the channel of the transfer MOS transistor, and,being a buried channel, it need not reach the surface. Also in case thechannel is formed at the surface, the bypass region desirably reach thesurfacial channel, but, even if it does not reach the surfacial channel,there can be obtained a transfer MOS transistor with a sufficientlylower threshold voltage in comparison with that in the prior art,according to the aforementioned equations.

It is also effective that such bypass region is present under the gateof the transfer MOS transistor. With the application of a gate voltage,the potential under the gate is pushed up, and this effect is alsoapplied to the bypass region, thereby further reducing the potential.

The present embodiment is featured by a configuration in which thetransfer MOS transistor is connected to the floating diffusion region,and the present inventors have found that this configuration providesfollowing effects:

1) The impurity concentration of the floating diffusion region can beselected high, so that the depletion layer formed between the well andthe floating diffusion region can be effectively widened toward thep-well by the applied bias. This arises from a fact that the voltage atthe read-out (reset voltage) can be entered arbitrarily and directly;

2) In contrast to the small dynamic range, as in CCD, determined by thebuild-in potential of the impurity profile, there can be secured a widedynamic range that can be controlled by an external voltage; and

3) An appropriate voltage at the signal read-out allows to suitablylower the potential barrier in the vicinity of the bypass region,thereby facilitating the signal read-out.

In the APS, since each pixel contains many transistors, the transistorsthemselves have to be made smaller for reducing the pixel size, thusinevitably resulting in an elevated impurity concentration of the wellsof the photodiode and the transfer MOS transistor. Also the power supplyvoltage has to be lowered in reducing the size of the transistors. Inorder to reduce the depletion voltage V_(dep) while maintaining aconstant amount of charge processed in the photodiode, it is necessaryto design the accumulation layer (n-layer in FIG. 3) of the photodiodewith a higher impurity concentration and with a smaller thickness. Alsoit is necessary to reduce the width of the bypass region since it has tobe depleted together with the n-layer of the photodiode.

The stricter precision required for the dimension of the n-layer of thephotodiode and of the width of the bypass region, combined with thehigher impurity concentration of the well, leads to an increased numberof fluctuating parameters in the manufacturing process, thus leading toan even stricter precision required for the process and a loweredproduction yield. In particular, the width of the bypass region, beingin the direction along the surface of the silicon substrate andgenerally less precise than the dimension in depth, constitutes a majorfactor in the deterioration of the production yield. The presentinvention increases the tolerance of the width of the bypass region bythe above-mentioned effect (3), thereby improving the production yield.

The present invention also allows to increase the production yield, byimproving the working precision of the width of the bypass region,through the manufacturing process to be explained in the following.

The bypass region in the conventional CCD has a significantlyfluctuating width, depending on the aligning accuracy of the exposureapparatus, since it is formed by ion implantation of the n-layer of thephotodiode prior to the formation of the control electrode of thetransfer MOS transistor and ion implantation of the surfacially highlydoped p-layer, utilizing the control electrode of the transfer MOStransistor as a mask.

On the other hand, the present embodiment can improve the dimensionalprecision, since the bypass region is formed by ion implantation,utilizing the control electrode of the transfer MOS transistor as amask.

In the foregoing, the features of the present invention has beenexplained by a configuration of accumulating electrons, but the presentinvention is likewise applicable to a case of accumulating positiveholes and is not limited by the type of the accumulated charge or of thetransfer MOS transistor.

Now reference is made to FIGS. 6A to 6D for explaining a secondembodiment of the present invention, relating to a method of forming thesolid state image pickup device explained in the first embodiment. Inthe present embodiment, the photodiode and the peripheral configurationwere formed in the following manner.

Boron was introduced by ion implantation into an n-type substrate 901,which was heat treated to form a p-well 902 with a surfacial impurityconcentration of ca. 2×10¹⁶ cm⁻³. Then a photoresist layer 908 wasformed and an n-layer 904 of the photodiode was obtained (FIG. 6A).

Then a gate oxide layer 910 of a thickness of 30 nm was formed on theentire substrate surface by thermal oxidation, and a control electrode903 of the transfer MOS transistor was formed (FIG. 6B).

Then a photoresist layer 909 was formed on the photodiode and a part ofthe control electrode on the substrate surface, and, after a heattreatment of 950° C./20 min. in nitrogen atmosphere, a surfaciallyhighly doped p-layer 905 was formed, utilizing the control electrode 903as a mask (FIG. 6C).

Then an As floating diffusion region 907 was formed according to theordinary semiconductor process (FIG. 6D).

In this process, source and drain regions of the ordinary MOS transistorwere formed.

Subsequently, a first interlayer insulation layer, a contact, a firstmetal wiring, a second interlayer insulation layer, a via connecting thefirst and second metal wirings, a second metal wiring and a passivationlayer were formed one after another according to an ordinarysemiconductor process.

As a result, there was formed a bypass region 906 of a width of about100 nm. The threshold voltage of an ordinary MOS transistor havinghighly doped n-type diffusion layers on both sides thereof, thethreshold voltage of a transfer MOS transistor having a sourceconsisting of a buried n-layer without the bypass region and thethreshold voltage with the bypass region (configuration of the presentinvention) were respectively evaluated as 0.7 V, 2.2 V and 0.7 V. Theseresults indicate that the threshold voltage is lowered to the level ofthe ordinary MOS transistor. The reduction in the threshold voltagewidens the dynamic range of the floating diffusion region by at least1.5 V.

Now reference is made to FIGS. 7A to 7D for explaining a thirdembodiment of the present invention, relating to a method of forming thesolid state image pickup device explained in the first embodiment. Inthe present embodiment, the photodiode and the peripheral configurationwere formed in the following manner.

Boron was introduced by ion implantation into an n-type substrate 601,which was heat treated to form a p-well 602 with a surfacial impurityconcentration of ca. 4×10¹⁶ cm⁻³. After the formation of a gate oxidelayer 610 of a thickness of 15 nm by thermal oxidation, polycrystallinesilicon was deposited with a thickness of 400 nm, thereby forming acontrol electrode 603 of the transfer MOS transistor (FIG. 7A).

Then phosphor ions were implanted under 100 keV, utilizing a photoresistlayer 608 and the control electrode 603.

In this operation, with respect to the thickness of 400 nm ofpolycrystalline silicon, the projection stroke and standard deviation ofphosphor were respectively 120 and 45 nm, whereby the polycrystallinesilicon served satisfactorily as a mask (FIG. 7B).

Then, after the elimination of the photoresist layer 608, heat treatmentwas conducted for 20 minutes at 950° C. in nitrogen atmosphere to causecertain diffusion of phosphor. Then a photoresist layer 609 was formedagain, and ion implantation of BF₂ was conducted at 35 keV, utilizingthe photoresist layer 609 and the control electrode 603 as a mask (FIG.7C). 605 indicates a surfacially highly doped p-layer.

Then an As floating diffusion region 607 was formed by an ordinarysemiconductor process (FIG. 7D). In this operation there were formedsource and drain regions of the ordinary MOS transistor. In FIG. 7D, 606indicates a bypass region.

Subsequently, a first interlayer insulation layer, a contact, a firstmetal wiring, a second interlayer insulation layer, a via connecting thefirst and second metal wirings, a second metal wiring and a passivationlayer were formed one after another according to an ordinarysemiconductor process.

As a result, there was formed a bypass region 606 of a width of about100 nm. The threshold voltage of an ordinary MOS transistor havinghighly doped n-type diffusion layers on both sides, the thresholdvoltage of a transfer MOS transistor having a source consisting of aburied n-layer without the bypass region and the threshold voltage withthe bypass region (configuration of the present invention) wererespectively evaluated as 0.7 V, 3.5 V and 0.7 V. These results indicatethat the threshold voltage is lowered to the level of the ordinary MOStransistor.

Now reference is made to FIGS. 7A, 7B and 8 for explaining a fourthembodiment of the present invention, relating to a method of forming thesolid state image pickup device explained in the first embodiment. Inthe present embodiment, the photodiode and the peripheral configurationwere formed in the following manner.

Boron was introduced by ion implantation into an n-type substrate 601,which was heat treated to form a p-well 602 with a surfacial impurityconcentration of ca. 4×10¹⁶ cm⁻³. After the formation of a gate oxidelayer 610 of a thickness of 15 nm by thermal oxidation, polycrystallinesilicon was deposited with a thickness of 400 nm, thereby forming acontrol electrode 603 of the transfer MOS transistor (FIG. 7A).

Then oblique ion implantation of phosphor was conducted under 100 keV,utilizing a photoresist layer 1008 and the control electrode 1003 as themask. The ion implantation angle θ was selected as 20°. Because of suchoblique ion implantation, the phosphor was present under the controlelectrode 1003 even immediately after the ion implantation. In thisoperation, with respect to the thickness of 400 nm of polycrystallinesilicon, the projection stroke and standard deviation of phosphor wererespectively 120 and 45 nm, whereby the polycrystalline silicon servedsatisfactorily as a mask (FIG. 8). In FIG. 8, there are also shown ann-type substrate 1001, a p-well 1002, and an n-layer 1004 of thephotodiode.

Then, a photoresist layer 609 was formed again, and ion implantation ofBF₂ was conducted at 35 keV, utilizing the photoresist layer 609 and thecontrol electrode 603 as a mask (FIG. 7C). 605 indicates a surfaciallyhighly doped p-layer.

Then an As floating diffusion region 607 was formed by an ordinarysemiconductor process (FIG. 7D).

In this operation there were formed source and drain regions of theordinary MOS transistor.

Subsequently, a first interlayer insulation layer, a contact, a firstmetal wiring, a second interlayer insulation layer, a via connecting thefirst and second metal wirings, a second metal wiring and a passivationlayer were formed one after another according to an ordinarysemiconductor process.

As a result, there was formed a bypass region 606 of a width of about100 nm. The threshold voltage of an ordinary MOS transistor havinghighly doped n-type diffusion layers on both sides, the thresholdvoltage of a transfer MOS transistor having a source consisting of aburied n-layer without the bypass region and the threshold voltage withthe bypass region (configuration of the present invention) wererespectively evaluated as 0.7 V, 3.5 V and 0.7 V. These results indicatethat the threshold voltage is lowered to the level of the ordinary MOStransistor.

As the bypass region is formed by oblique phosphor ion implantation, thethermal treatment of 20 minutes at 950° C. employed in the example 2 fordiffusing phosphor is omitted. As a result, the thermal treatment timein the semiconductor process could be shortened, so that the peripheralMOS transistors for signal processing could be reduced in size.

Now there will be explained a fifth embodiment of the present invention,relating to a method of forming the solid state image pickup deviceexplained in the first embodiment. In the fifth embodiment, the phosphorion implantation is divided into a first ion implantation for formingthe bypass region and a second ion implantation for forming the n-layerof the photodiode.

The first ion implantation was conducted with an ion implantation angleof 45°, and under a voltage of 80 keV. In consideration of the profileof the p-layer having the highly doped surface, the ion implantationangle was selected larger than 20° in order to position the peak in thevicinity of the surface and to secure the bypass region.

The second ion implantation was conducted with an ion implantation angleof 7° and under a voltage of 90 keV, in order to control the depletionvoltage of the p-layer of the photodiode.

In the present embodiment, by dividing the ion implantation for thebypass region and that for the n-layer of the photodiode, energy anddose of the ion implantation could be optimized for respectivecharacteristics.

Now reference is made to FIGS. 9A to 9D for explaining a sixthembodiment of the present invention, relating to a method of forming thesolid state image pickup device explained in the first embodiment. Inthe present embodiment, the photodiode and the peripheral configurationwere formed in the following manner.

Boron was introduced by ion implantation into an n-type substrate 1101,which was heat treated to form a p-well 1102 with a surfacial impurityconcentration of ca. 2×10¹⁶ cm⁻³, thereby forming the n-layer of thephotodiode. After the formation of a gate oxide layer 1110 of athickness of 30 nm by thermal oxidation, there was formed a controlelectrode 1103 of the transfer MOS transistor. Subsequently phosphorions were implanted under a voltage of 100 keV, utilizing a photoresistlayer 1108 and the control electrode 1103 as the mask (FIG. 9A). 1104indicates the n-layer of the photodiode.

After the formation of a low-doped n-layer for LDD in the floatingdiffusion region, a side spacer 1111 was formed with a width of 150 nm.

Then, a photoresist layer 1109 was formed, and ion implantation of BF₂was conducted at 35 keV, utilizing the photoresist layer 1109, thecontrol electrode 1103 and the spacer as a mask. The ion implantationangle was selected as 7° in order to control channeling (FIG. 9C). 1105indicates a surfacially highly doped p-layer.

Then an As floating diffusion region 1107 was formed by an ordinarysemiconductor process (FIG. 9D). 1106 indicates a bypass region.

In this operation there were formed source and drain regions of theordinary MOS transistor.

Subsequently, a first interlayer insulation layer, a contact, a firstmetal wiring, a second interlayer insulation film, a via connecting thefirst and second metal wirings, a second metal wiring and a passivationlayer were formed one after another according to an ordinarysemiconductor process.

As a result, there was formed a bypass region 1106 of a width of about150 nm. The threshold voltage of an ordinary MOS transistor havinghighly doped n-type diffusion layers on both sides, the thresholdvoltage of a transfer MOS transistor having a source consisting of aburied n-layer without the bypass region and the threshold voltage withthe bypass region (configuration of the present invention) wererespectively evaluated as 0.7 V, 3.5 V and 0.7 V. These results indicatethat the threshold voltage is lowered to the level of the ordinary MOStransistor. The above-mentioned side spacer corresponds to the maskmeans.

The mask means may naturally be composed also by a silicide layer or thelike instead of the side spacer.

Now reference is made to FIGS. 7A, 7B, 8 and 10 for explaining a seventhembodiment of the present invention, relating to a method of forming thesolid state image pickup device explained in the first embodiment. Inthe present embodiment, the photodiode and the peripheral configurationwere formed in the following manner.

Boron was introduced by ion implantation into an n-type substrate 601,which was heat treated to form a p-well 602 with a surfacial impurityconcentration of ca. 4×10¹⁶ cm⁻³. After the formation of a gate oxidelayer 610 of a thickness of 15 nm by thermal oxidation, polycrystallinesilicon was deposited with a thickness of 400 nm, thereby forming acontrol electrode 603 of the transfer MOS transistor (FIG. 7A).

Then oblique ion implantation of phosphor was conducted under 100 keV,utilizing a photoresist layer 1008 and the control electrode 1003 amask. The ion implantation angle θ was selected as 10°. Because of suchoblique ion implantation, the phosphor was present under the controlelectrode 1003 even immediately after the ion implantation. In thisoperation, with respect to the thickness of 400 nm of polycrystallinesilicon, the projection stroke and standard deviation of phosphor wererespectively 120 and 45 nm, whereby the polycrystalline silicon servedsatisfactorily as a mask (FIG. 8).

Then, a photoresist layer 1209 was formed again, and ion implantation ofBF₂ was conducted at 35 keV, utilizing the photoresist layer 1209 andthe control electrode 1203 as a mask. In this operation, the ionimplantation angle was selected as −15° (FIG. 10). In FIG. 10, there areshown an n-type substrate 1201, a p-well 1202 and an n-layer 1204 of thephotodiode.

As a result, the control electrode 1203 formed a shadow and thesurfacially highly doped p-layer 1205 could be separated from thecontrol electrode 1203 by a distance 400×sin(15)=100 nm.

Then a floating diffusion region 607 including arsenic was formed by anordinary semiconductor process (FIG. 7D). In this operation there wereformed source and drain regions of the ordinary MOS transistor.

Subsequently, a first interlayer insulation layer, a contact, a firstmetal wiring, a second interlayer insulation layer, a via connecting thefirst and second metal wirings, a second metal wiring and a passivationlayer were formed one after another according to an ordinarysemiconductor process.

As a result, there was formed a bypass region 606 of a width of about150 nm. The threshold voltage of an ordinary MOS transistor havinghighly doped n-type diffusion layers on both sides, the thresholdvoltage of a transfer MOS transistor having a source consisting of aburied n-layer without the bypass region and the threshold voltage withthe bypass region (configuration of the present invention) wererespectively evaluated as 0.7 V, 3.5 V and 0.7 V. These results indicatethat the threshold voltage is lowered to the level of the ordinary MOStransistor.

As the bypass region is formed by oblique phosphor ion implantation, thethermal treatment of 20 minutes at 950° C. employed in the example 2 fordiffusing phosphor was omitted. As a result, the thermal treatment timein the semiconductor process could be shortened, so that the peripheralMOS transistors for signal processing could be reduced in size.

In the following there will be explained, as a ninth embodiment of thepresent invention, the solid state image pickup device of the embodiment1 or formed by methods explained in the second to eighth embodiments.The device is an region sensor having a pixel configuration of FIG. 11employing the photodiode 705 and the transfer MOS transistor, and alsohaving a read-out circuit shown in FIG. 12.

Referring to FIG. 11, there are shown a transfer switch Q1 consisting ofa transfer MOS transistor for a photodiode 705, a reset switch Q2consisting of a reset MOS transistor for resetting the floatingdiffusion region, an input MOS transistor Q3 of a source followeramplifying circuit, consisting of a constant-current source 812, ofwhich gate is connected to the floating diffusion region and which isconnected as a load of the source side, and a selection switch Q4 forselecting the pixel to be read. There are also shown a power supply line701, a reset switch line 702, a selection switch line 703, a signaloutput line 704 and a transfer switch line 706.

FIG. 12 illustrates a solid state image pickup device, employing thepixel cells of the above-described photoelectric conversion elements, ina 3×3 matrix. There are shown a power supply line 801, a reset switchline 802, a selection switch line 806, a signal output line 804 and atransfer switch line 813.

In the following there will be explained basic functions of the circuitsshown in FIGS. 11 and 12:

1) There are executed a resetting operation of entering a reset voltageto the input gate of the source follower circuit by the reset switch Q2and a row selection by the selection switch Q4.

2) The gate of the floating diffusion region of the input node of thesource follower circuit is maintained at the floating state to read thenoise components including the resetting noise and the fixed patternnoise such as the functuation in the threshold voltage of the sourcefollower MOS transistor, and the obtained noise information is stored ina signal accumulation unit 805.

3) Then the transfer switch Q1 is opened and closed to transfer thecharge accumulated in the photodiode by the light signal, to the inputnode of the source follower circuit, and the sum of the aforementionednoise components and the light signal component is read and stored inthe signal accumulation unit 805.

4) The transfer switches 808, 808′ for the common signal lines 1, 2 areclosed to transfer the noise component signal and the sum signal of thenoise component and the light signal component respectively to thecommon signal lines 809, 809′, and these signals are outputted asoutputs 811, 811′ respectively through output amplifiers 810.

Subsequently the light signal component is obtained by calculating thedifference between the outputs 811, 811′ to eliminate the resettingnoise and the fixed pattern noise, thereby providing an image signal ofa high S/N ratio.

The signal and the noise were evaluated by effecting the signal read-outthrough the above-described method. As a result, there could be obtainedan S/N ratio as high as 75 to 85 dB in the dynamic range for each bit.Also the fluctuation in the S/N ratio in the foregoing embodiments wasevaluated as follows:

fourth and fifth embodiments<third, sixth and seventhembodiments<<second embodiment

This result indicates that the self-aligned formation utilizing thecontrol electrode at a low temperature is more effective.

The foregoing embodiment allows to widen the dynamic range, by reducingthe threshold value of the transfer MOS transistor, serving to transferthe photo-induced charge accumulated in the photodiode of the solidstate image pickup device. In particular, since there is provided,between the photodiode and the control electrode of the transfer MOStransistor, the floating diffusion region of a bypass region capable ofeffectively transferring the charge accumulated by electrons or positiveholes, the following advantages can be obtained:

1) It is rendered possible to select a high impurity concentration inthe floating diffusion region, whereby, by application of a bias to thecontrol electrode of the transfer switch, the depletion layer generatedbetween the well and the floating diffusion region can be effectivelyspread toward the p-well. This results from a fact that the voltage atthe signal read-out (resetting voltage) can be inputted arbitrarily anddirectly.

2) There can be secured a wide dynamic range controllable by theexternal voltage, in contrast to the narrow dynamic range determined bythe build-in potential of the impurity profile in the conventional CCDsensor.

3) The potential barrier in the vicinity of the bypass region can beadequately lowered by selecting an appropriate voltage for the signalread-out, whereby the read-out of the photo-induced charge can befacilitated.

Many widely different embodiments of the present invention may beconstructed without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention. It should be understood that the present invention is notlimited to the specific embodiments described in the specification,except as defined in the appended claims.

1.-15. (canceled)
 16. A MOS-type solid-state image pickup device, on asemiconductor substrate of a second conductivity type, comprising: aphotoelectric conversion unit having a first semiconductor region of afirst conductive type, a second semiconductor region of a secondconductive type forming a pn-junction with the first semiconductorregion, and a third semiconductor region of the first conductive typedisposed on the second semiconductor region; a transfer gate electrodedisposed on an insulation film and transferring a carrier from thesecond semiconductor region to a fourth semiconductor region of thesecond conductivity type; an amplifying MOS transistor having a gateelectrode connected to the fourth semiconductor region; and a fifthsemiconductor region of the second conductivity type that iscontinuously disposed to the second semiconductor region, disposed underthe gate electrode, wherein an entire surface of the third semiconductorregion is covered with the insulation film, and a side portion of thethird semiconductor region that is laterally opposite to the transfergate is in contact with the first semiconductor region.